These delicious Apple Banana Mini Muffins with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting are a wonderful little treat for breakfast, brunch or any time of day!
Spring has finally sprung here in Carlisle, Massachusetts and today I thought I’d share a little treat, perfect for spring time, these delicious Apple Banana Mini Muffins with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting.
I found these pretty pink petal shaped mini baking cups
These Apple Banana Mini Muffins are packed full of shredded apples and banana and are spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon, they are so good.
I wanted to add a little pink flower to each muffin, so I decided to make some frosting. I thought cream cheese frosting would go well with these muffins. My son isn’t usually a fan of cream cheese frosting, but he does love vanilla frosting, so, I decided to make vanilla cream cheese frosting. The Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting did indeed go really well with the muffins and best of all, my son absolutely loved it.
This recipe makes enough frosting to make a little drop flower on each mini muffin. If you’d like more frosting per muffin, you can double the frosting recipe. These little muffins are also wonderful on their own, without any frosting.
This past Monday, we had some beautiful spring like weather, the sun was shining and temperatures made it into the upper 60s°F. I took my almost 3 year old twin girls to the nearby cranberry bog, they had a great time watching the ducks and tossing rocks in the water. Eventually they started to walk into the water and asked if they could go swimming. I had to say no, it wasn’t quite warm enough to go in the water, plus the bog isn’t appropriate for swimming.
So, as a compromise, when we got home, I let them put on their bathing suits and play outside. They had a great time running around our yard, which at this point was still half covered in snow. They loved it, they stomped, bare footed, in the snow and made snow balls with their bare hands, they had a great time.
These delicious little Apple Banana Mini Muffins with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting are a wonderful treat for breakfast, they also make a great snack any time of day. My son has been taking a couple of these little muffins to eat with his lunch at school every day so far this week.
These pretty Apple Banana Mini Muffins with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting would also be a wonderful addition to a brunch buffet for Mother’s Day or any day!
Apple Banana Mini Muffins with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
for the mini muffins:
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- ½ cup butter (1 stick), softened
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 apples, peeled, cored and shredded
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
for the vanilla cream cheese frosting:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon milk
- icing color(s), preferably in gel/paste format, of choice (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease or place muffin liners in two 24 cup mini-muffin tins (or if you have just one, you can bake in batches)
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat sugar and ½ cup of butter until fluffy.
- Add in eggs, one at a time, and beat to combine.
- Add in buttermilk and vanilla and beat to combine.
- In another large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Add flour mixture to egg mixture in 2 or 3 additions, beating after each addition until just combined.
- Add in shredded apples and banana and stir to combine.
- Spoon batter into mini muffin tins, filling nearly to the top of each cup. Bake in preheated oven for 18 – 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
- Cool muffin tins on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from tins, place on racks and cool completely.
- While muffins are baking, in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat ¼ cup butter and cream cheese until well combined.
- Add vanilla to bowl and beat to combine.
- Gradually add powdered sugar and milk and beat on high until frosting is light and fluffy.
- Add small amount of icing color to bowl (I use a toothpick), beat well until color is incorporated. Add additional coloring if needed to reach desired color. (optional)
- Chill frosting in the refrigerator until ready to frost the muffins
- Frost cooled mini muffins using a knife or pastry bag fitted with tip of choice.
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting recipe adapted from wilton.com
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[…] contain chunks of fruit, raisins or nuts. I’ve shared many of his favorites here including Apple Banana Mini Muffins with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting, Orange Sunshine Mini Loaves, Brown Sugar Banana Snack Cake with Vanilla Frosting and Spiced […]
Delicious Apple and banana combination. Love the small size too! I’ll have two 🙂
Thanks Sandra!
These muffins look soooooooo pretty!! I wish I could grab one or two and eat 🙂
Thanks Winnie!
These are gorgeous Joy! Thanks for sharing these at the Say G’day Party! Pinned and hope to see you on Saturday!
Thanks Joanne!
gorgoues!! these look so yummy!
Thanks Lizzy!
These are beautiful…I’m thinking mother’s day
Thanks so much!
Now that is what I call a cupcake! That cream cheese frosting looks absolutely delicious.
Thanks Rini!
Hi Joy, Popping in to say hi! Love the cupcakes! They looks so yummy.
Thanks Theresa!
These look simply scrumptious! I could snack on one right now! Thank you for sharing on OhMyHeartsieGirlWW! Hope to see you again next week! Pinned!
Thanks Christine!
Yummy!! Thanks for sharing on My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday – Link Party!! Hope to see you again on Thursday!! Pinned!
Thanks Elaine!
Wow that looks scrumptious!
Thanks Jessica!
I love the apple/banana combo. I know my kids would love these.
Thanks Christine!
I usually do buttercream frosting with my cupcakes. I will try this new frosting as it looks so soft and yummy!
Thanks Merlinda! I hope you give the frosting a try and enjoy!
Omgoodness. Those look and sound yummmmmy!!!!!
Thanks Jenna!
I want some LOL
Thanks Steve!
Your cupcake papers are darling, the frosting looks tasty too!! Thanks for stopping by to join in the fun!!! Miss you in our WW. Thanks for stopping by, wishing you a great day!
Karren
Thanks Karren!
Not only cute but yummy looking!!
Thanks for stopping by!!
Hugs,
Debbie
Thanks Debbie!
These are so cute and look yummy! Glad you shared at #HomeMattersParty
Thank Angela!
These look so yummy! The petal cases are so pretty too and fit perfectly with the flavours, mmmm!
Thanks Michelle!
These little bites look so cute! Perfect for spring 🙂
Thank Josie!
These look so cute, especially with the wrappers and the flavors sound great as well.
Thanks Caroline!
Joy, these are adorable! I love the wrappers you used, because they look just like little flowers–how perfect for a bridal shower.
Thanks Kristen! I agree, these would be great for a bridal shower!
These are beautiful! I would be afraid to eat 12 of them in one sitting as I love muffins and anything with frosting!
Thanks Denise!
What fabulous mini-muffins, stuffed with fruit and topped with those adorable rosettes. I’m tempted to make these, but just wish I could pip icing as well as you do:)
Thanks so much Laura!
These look so springy and tasty!
Thanks Heidi!
These are beautiful and would be perfect for a mother’s day tea or other party.
Thanks Marjie! I agree these would be so pretty for a tea party!
These are so pretty and sound delicious!
Thanks Marie!
So cute and these would be great for the PTO lunch next week! Thanks Joy!
Thanks Jennifer!
Joy,
These cupcakes are too precious! Between the paper liners and the flower frosting you’ve created a very sweet treat!
I love the idea of sunshine bringing all of you snowbound folks out to play. It’s going to take a lot of warm sunny days for all that snow to melt!
Thanks!
Thanks so much Kristen!
These are gorgeous looking cupcakes and my little princess will totally love that pink frosting! Pinned.
Thanks Abigail! I hope you give them a try and you and your little princess enjoy 🙂
they look beautiful! I bet they taste great too.
Thanks so much Kallee!
I don’t know why, but I have never thought about putting frosting on muffins. These look good though. May family are big banana muffin eaters, I bet they would LOVE these
Hi Brandy, these little muffins are delicious without the frosting, but I thought it would be a fun addition especially with the flower themed liners. My kids were thrilled that I added frosting, of course 🙂 Hope you give this a try and enjoy!
Your little muffin papers are so cute. Great presentation for a delish tasty treat.
Thanks KC! I couldn’t resist these little liners, they are so cute 🙂
These look and sound delish! I love the cute papers they are in. I would have the leave the cinnamon out cause i’m allergic, but I would totally make these!
Thanks Christina! These would be wonderful even without the cinnamon!
I have some bananas that really need to be used up right now! I love banana bread and cakes, but not just plain bananas (hence my reason for having so many around!) Need to get on this asap!
Thanks Kacey! I hope you give these a try and enjoy!
I love the frosting idea. But, the girls in the snow barefooted could make a viral uTube video!
Thanks Dad! I wasn’t able to get any video, but I did get a few cute photos 🙂
Those look so pretty. I bet they are yummy too.
Thanks Sue! They definitely are yummy too 🙂
Oh my gosh, these are the cutest! These would be perfect for a bridal shower!
Thanks so much Liz! I agree, these would be wonderful for a bridal shower!
Those are so cute and look really tasty! I love the wrappers. Like you, I can eat pumpkin year round, but have really been into banana baked goods lately. I will have to try these!
Thanks so much Carlee! I hope you give them a try and enjoy!